Alison Limerick delivered a surprise live performance of her 1990 club anthem Where Love Lives at the John Lewis Christmas campaign launch party in London on Tuesday night (04.11.25).
The song has been chosen to soundtrack the retailer’s 2025 festive campaign which features a teenage son gift his dad a vinyl copy of the house single, prompting him to recall his clubbing days and beloved moments as a father raising his son from a baby to now.
Alison stepped out to sing the track at Café KOKO in Camden much to the shock of party goers.
Guests included DJ Fat Tony, broadcaster Clara Amfo, actress Jamie Winstone, Henry Holland, and Ruth Codd, many of whom wore looks curated from John Lewis’s current collections.
The night also featured a debut DJ set from father/daughter duo Alex and Kim Turnbull, who blended rare groove, house, and punk influences to keep the party going late into the night.
Alison was also joined at the bash by her Brooklyn Funk Essentials bandmate Lati Kronlund, who penned 1990 single Where Love Lives.
The house music legend praised Lati for writing a song that has remained so powerful and vital after 35 years, as well as praising late DJ-and-producer Frankie Knuckles who, along with David Morales, was responsible for remixing the track into the version that became a huge hit.
She said: “It’s reached so many people, I guess that’s it being around for 35 years.”
“Lati Kronlund wrote the most wonderful song for me. Frankie Knuckles added the extra dimension.
“The song itself had potential anyway but when Frankie first heard it he went, ‘I need to remix this.’ He could see what he was gonna do with it … He just put some kind of extra magic with what he did with that song. I will forever be grateful.”
As well as the original version of Where Love Lives, the advert introduces a modern version by Labrinth which helps convey the message of the power of music.
The synopsis for the advert reads: “If you can’t find the words, find the gift.
“We don’t always know how to say how we feel. Not out loud. Not properly. But then comes Christmas and something in us wants to try.
“This is the story of a dad and his son, and the gift that helps them find their way back to one another. Because, sometimes, a gift can say the things we can’t.”
John Lewis is selling a limited-edition black 12″ vinyl of Alison Limerick’s Where Love Lives along with Labrinth’s version.
All profits from the record will go to the Building Happier Futures fund.
Over the years, the likes of Sir Elton John (Your Song), Elbow (Golden Slumbers), Tom Odell (Real Love), and Lily Allen (Somewhere Only We Know) have had the honour of providing the soundtrack to the annual advert.